For golf fans, the last decade or so has been all about finding the next Tiger Woods, or at least a few other names to populate the leaderboards. Fresh talent was hard to come by, and it was easy to keep track of newcomers who showed the skills to join the big league.
Today, golf is “hemorrhaging” with such players, according to sports columnist Scott Michaux. Thirteen of the most recent majors have gone to a handful of different golfers, most of them on their major tour debut. Case in point: Keegan Bradley, who recently nabbed the PGA title, follows six other first-time winners, adding to the longest string of first-time winners in the game’s history.
One obvious reason for this is that the old-timers are aging. By next year most of them, Woods being the major exception, will be in their forties. This leaves the door open for newcomers to start making their marks, just as it works with any other sport. The difference is that golf has been dominated by Woods and a handful of veterans—Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh, to name a couple—for so long that a lot of new blood has cropped up, waiting for their turn.
Michaux has picked some of the younger players most likely to rise to the top in the next few years. Topping his list is Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who won his first major, the U.S. Open, last June. It capped off a successful amateur career and established the 22-year-old as a force to be reckoned with in pro circles. Indeed, experts say it’s not a question of whether he’ll make it big, but when.
Martin Kaymer of Düsseldorf, Germany runs a close second. To date, the 26-year-old has won nine tournaments on the European Tour, including the 2010 PGA Championship. It made him only the second German to win a major title, following Bernhard Langer (who’s known for having won pro tournaments on every continent).
Also worth watching is South African Charl Schwartzel, whose performance Michaux noted as the “most consistent” of the year. He has made the cuts in every tournament he has joined in 2011. Geoff Oglivy of Australia, although older and currently struggling with a losing streak, can be trusted to deliver on every tour and has shown a few promising games this year. Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell also made the list, although he seems to have strayed following his successful 2010 run.
